Director Lana Wachowski, whose films include Cloud Atlas and the Matrix trilogy and who came out as transgendered earlier this year, told an audience in San Francisco last weekend that she nearly committed suicide as a young adult because of her identity struggles.
“In the absence of words to defend myself, without examples, without models, I began to believe voices in my head – that I was a freak, that I am broken, that there is something wrong with me, that I will never be lovable,” Wachowski said at the Human Rights Campaign’s gala dinner in San Francisco, where she accepted the LGBT organization’s Visibility Award.

I am completely horrified by the “talk show,” the interrogation and confession format, the weeping, the tears of the host [applause] whose sympathy underscores the inherent tragedy of my life as a transgender person. And this moment fulfilling the cathartic arc of rejection to acceptance without ever interrogating the pathology of a society that refuses to acknowledge the spectrum of gender in the exact same blind way they have refused to see a spectrum of race or sexuality. . . .

(See? It’s society’s fault.)

I remember the third grade, I remember recently moving and transferring from a public school to a Catholic school. In public school I played mostly with girls, I have long hair and everyone wears jeans and t-shirts. In Catholic school the girls wear skirts, the boys play pants. I am told I have to cut my hair. I want to play Four Square with the girls but now I’m one of them — I’m one of the boys. . . .

(He never got over third grade — or Four Square, for that matter.)

Here in the absence of words to defend myself, without examples, without models, I began to believe voices in my head — that I was a freak, that I am broken, that there is something wrong with me, that I will never be lovable.
After school I go to the nearby Burger King and write a suicide note. It ends up being over four pages. [laughter] I’m a little talkative. But it was addressed to my parents and I really wanted to convince them that it wasn’t their fault, it was just that I didn’t belong. I cry a lot as I write this note . . .

Well, boo hoo hoo. You see how the celebration of victimhood encourages people to think of their self-pity as justified, as a reaction to “society,” externalizing blame for their own unhappiness onto the uncaring Other. The culture of victimhood permits them to embrace their selfish narcissism — their lack of empathy or understanding for the innumerable Others lumped into the dehumanizing category “society” — in order to export their sense of shame onto these scapegoats: “How dare you be insensitive to my problems, you hateful bigots!”

Here’s the thing: All children experience occasional moments of social awkwardness. Many teenagers feel unloved and sad. These problems are so common as to be nearly universal, and yet Wachowski has such a sense of specialness and entitlement as to believe it horribly unfair — indeed, a social injustice, a violation of human rights — that he/she should ever have had such feelings. And so “society” must be scolded and punished, for we were all guilty of our failure to recognize Wachowski’s specialness.

Wachowski’s problem isn’t “gender identity disorder,” it’s egomania. And there is something profoundly perverse about a culture that empowers such bullies, by celebrating their make-believe victimhood and assisting their petty revenge on society in the name of “human rights.”

As far as I’m aware, there isn’t any physiological “spectrum” on gender. There are a tiny number of actual genetic deformities or whatever that result in hermaphroditic situations, and there are chromosomal defects (yes, defects, no PC crap here) that result in extra chromosomes, which come with major medical problems. But for a solid, huge percent of the population, you are either XY or XX, and that’s it.

This notion of a spectrum regarding sex is all in the minds of people who are not happy with their lives. They are looking for some way to achieve happiness by transforming their bodies. Like the plastic surgery addicts, the result is always something grotesque. It’s their minds that need to transform.

Deadman Turner

I read on Facebook a long rant from a Slutwalk rally—which features women who don’t like the idea of being labelled “sluts” calling themselves “sluts”—wherein an intersex person who was sexually assaulted by an intersex person therefore blamed…
Well, I’ll let you guess.

“At a board meeting Monday, board members unanimously approved a policy
addressing the rights of transgender students. On Friday, in a special
meeting, that policy was rescinded”

“A lesbian mother of five children, Keenan said one of her children also
identifies as a lesbian, while another is wavering with her own
gender-identity. When she heard about the policy that had been passed
Monday, Keenan said she was “so excited.” A Donahue /Oprah style freak show !!!

“For the mother of an 8-year-old transgender child, the decision was
beyond heart-breaking. The woman spoke through tears as her daughter
stood at her side. She described how even at 2 years old, her child was
already identifying as a boy.”

Am I the only one that thinks that this is horrible parenting??? Get that child some mental health help soon !!

CalCon10

I’m first generation Eastern European. During WWII, both sides of my family fled from both the Germans and the Russians.

So, all through school, a group of bullies called me all kinds of epithets, of which “Commie” was one of the nicer ones. (The ringleader, incidentally, was Mexican, and his sidekicks were mostly black. Hm.)

I echo RSM: Boo-hoo-hoo, Mr./Ms./It Transgender. Get over it.

Life is hard, even for kids. Winners get up and succeed in spite of it. Losers wallow in it forever. Mr. It is in the latter group.

jsn2

Did he/she donate the deleted organ to a needy she/he?

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003232872834 Becca Lower

Who I feel badly for are the other two “co-directors” of Cloud Atlas. There was a promotional intro to the film released online a little while ago, with all three of them. It was hard to take anything any of them said about the film seriously. She/he is a narcissist who is drawing others into her/his misery vortex. Wrong.

Aaron1960

I was the only white kid on my bus in Pontiac, MI schools for 4 years. Am I supposed to give a damn about this Wachkowski?

http://alanye.com/ Dai Alanye

Regardless of Wachowski’s silly tale of woe, all of us must admit, I think, that s/he makes a good-looking woman. Next to Medusa, that is. How can anyone with such a hair-do expect to be taken seriously? Or hope to find romance?

http://wizbangblog.com/ Adjoran

Having now seen Wachowski as both male and female, I recommend he research other sexes in the hope of appearing attractive as those.

I’m seeing this election as, having had their 6 years to foul everything up, the drama club is being thrown out and the business club is taking over again. Lana/Larry here is definitely a member of the drama club.

And let me help you with your self-identification issue, Lena/Larry; you’re a putz. No matter what kind of plumbing you’re sporting these days, you’re still a putz.

http://profiles.google.com/rob5136 Rob Crawford

Men? Society? BUUUUSH?

Quelyn

I can’t even believe you’re talking about the same thing I just saw. I didn’t even hear any rage or anger. I find it sad that someone could see such an honest and beautiful expression of self and turn it into something so tiny.

I am not really sure how I got to this page, but I got here. I read your article despite wanting to give up after just the title. I try to keep an open mind to those that disagree with me.

I know this comment will accomplish nothing, and you will misinterpret more people int he future. But I hope that perhaps you will take a moment to really think about what it is to struggle with one’s identity and how that is not simply a selfish or narcissistic choice.

She demonized no one in her speech other than people that murdered someone. Hers was a story of acceptance and love. *sigh*

Bozzy Fiznorkler

ugh. you people are so fucking awful.

Robin

This post is disgusting. You obviously have never met, known, or even seen a transgender person. Your loss. They are the bravest men and women I know. Your whole attitude is so ignorant and repulsive, it makes me so sad for the pain you must feel, because only people in pain puke out such hurtful blah.

Robin

It’s never horrible parenting to love and support your children, and encourage them to be themselves. In fact, it’s the cornerstone of good parenting. Parenting–either good or bad–has nothing at all to do with how a human being identifies his gender, his sexual orientation, or his being right handed or left handed. It’s simply how you’re born. Now: you can love and support the child so he’s healthy or you can beat him and disparage him and try to change what he is. It’s obvious which is right and which is wrong. If you disagree, then you haven’t left your house or read a book in far too long. All due respect. Tolerance is the cornerstone of a free society.

http://alanye.com/ Dai Alanye

Robin’s claim to feel sadness for Lana’s critics is blatant hypocrisy, of course. And she seemingly fails to note that we’re laughing at this exhibitionist Wachowski person, not calling for his/her beating, firing, shunning or imprisoning. Laughter remains legal in America, I’m pretty sure.

Cowicide

You’re a perfect example of why I wake up every day glad that I do something, anything to destroy what’s left of the dying, conservative republican scum like YOU that infests this planet. You only served one purpose today, and that is to inspire me to do more for civil rights in the USA. I thank you for that.

http://alanye.com/ Dai Alanye

Liberals: So full of hate for normality, so unconsciously humorous.

IAmDemosthenes

This is coming from the same “family” values crowd whose dream team consisted of Republican statesmen wiggling their feet under airport bathroom stalls and ministers who regularly shared beds with male prostitutes. Like other conservative pundits–popping maximum-strength pain pills as if from PEZ dispensers–you betray your own psychological dysfunction through your absurdity.

Lana Wachowski is a “bully” who is taking “petty revenge” on society? The irony of your concluding paragraph makes me question if this is republished from the Onion. A woman who now has lost a large percentage of her muscle mass from a rapid decrease in testosterone in her body, who has kept her status out of the celebrity news for over a decade–she is bullying you? Her making a speech which reached almost no-one outside of the established LGBT community or wearing the clothing that she wishes is petty revenge? How much of a brat can you be? Boo-hoo, indeed.

How much of transparently dishonorable swine must you be to blatantly highlight a quotation where Lana specifically rejects the victim tone of talk show hosts so that lazy readers comes away with the opposing impression? You pull-out an Ad Hominum (is Latin too elitist for you?) attack on Lana to mask what psychological and neurological research shows about transgender people (oops–science is too elitist, too).

Your infotainment commentary–the echo chamber where your regular readership comes to rest their tired minds after a day of straining to hold their cognitive dissonance together–may make you some money. It may serve to insulate your small readership from the harsh environment of reality–prevent them from feeling uncomfortable (boo hoo…)–but you won’t be swaying anyone with every an ounce of interest in forming an informed opinion.

Cowicide

So full of hate

Keep projecting, it’s what you do best.

http://alanye.com/ Dai Alanye

Libs: So lacking in originality.

Cowicide

There you go, projecting again. By the way, while I do hate imploding your tiny pea skull with crushing cognitive dissonance, I’m not a liberal.

http://alanye.com/ Dai Alanye

It’s fair to say that Cowicide seems to personify cognitive dissonance, as his/her/its claim not to be a liberal indicates. Perhaps Liberal Troll would be a more comprehensive description, though.

Cowicide

Ha, I smell the burning from between you little ears. “Cowicide must be a liberal.”… hurts brain… hurts brain…